11 Tips for the Best Sleep Ever

3. Get on a schedule…and stick to it
Staying up later on the weekends is equally as damaging as trying to make up sleep on the weekends. Our bodies need a schedule…a consistent routine. Try to go to bed and get up at about the same time every day, allowing for the amount of rest you calculated, even on weekends. If your bedtime is 10 p.m. during the week, stick to that same time on the weekends.

4. Get your parent on a schedule…and stick to it
Just like your body needs a routine, so does your elderly parent’s. Set a schedule that you can stay close to every day. We set a routine and schedule for our kids as they were growing up, so try to do the same for elders. For kids and elders, a routine is comforting, predictable and encourages feelings of safety and relaxation. Make breakfast at about the same time every day. Schedule dinner, bath time, a relaxing pre-bed activity and bedtime for the same time every day.

5. Don’t misuse your bedUse your bed for two purposes only: sleep and sex. If you continually use the bed for activities that are not conducive to sleep, like reading, watching television or eating, you may be tempted to pick up a book or reach for the remote when you should be settling down for sleep.

6. Turn off your mindWorrying and constant stress are often the culprit of a sleepless night. Sometimes, your thoughts race and it seems impossible to “turn off your mind” long enough to fall asleep. Relaxation techniques, practiced on a regular basis, can help. Get in the habit of relaxing before you head to bed. Some techniques to try: a hot bath, gentle music, meditation or prayer.

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35 comments

A more physical way is once you are in bed, tense to bursting point your right arm, and then let it relax, and feel it becoming warm. Repeat with your other limbs in turn. Then all at once. Then push out and countract your abdomen in turn, 4 or 5 times, allowing the same tension and relaxation. Do the same with your neck and face. Finally altogether, and feel the complete sense of relaxation. I was taught these techniques by a Doctor, a psychiatrist when I was suffering deep depression and inability to sleep, even if exhausted. Always have in mind whilst performing these techniques that you are becoming more relaxed and sleepier mentally as well as physically. It worked for me.

"Just Turn off Your Mind" - sounds simple. This has been one one of the biggest problems in people who cannot sleep. Anxiety, stress, daily problems pray on our minds.
For people who have overwhelming anxieties, and stress, most find release in sleep.

I can't just lay down and stay asleep...I can't sleep in the same position for long--constantly turning.For some reason,I have to turn because I get so I can't breathe laying in one position.-Doesn't matter the bed.It's the way it's been for years--surprizingly,I do get enough sleep then but when my mind won't shut off....That's another deal.